Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Warranty Returns

Warranty period

If you purchased a NeuroTrac™ unit from one of our distributors and you have the invoice / receipt as a proof of the purchase, the Warranty is 2 years from the date of purchase from Verity Medical Ltd. by your distributor. This means that you should contact your distributor, providing them with the information of the invoice, serial and Batch / LOT numbers presented inside the battery compartment of the NeuroTrac™unit. Your distributor should be able to assist you with the Warranty Claim. Please do not send us units without our prior approval.

After Warranty Repair

If your distributor cannot assist you with the repair, please contact us by filling in the "contact us" form. We can undertake an after-warranty repair for Myoplus, MyoPlus2, and Myoplus4 devices

Issues with Stimulator

Another phase begins with the lower mA intensity

As per safety concerns, a 20 % decrease in stimulation intensity [mA] occurs with every phase being started. You cannot change these settings as otherwise it could lead to a moderate pain sensation if mA does not decrease when another phase begins.

Explanation:

When one phase ends and another phase begins, the new phase has a new set of parameters: Hz, uS, timing, type of stimulation pattern. Your previous mA level selected to achive the desired effect: either pain relief, muscle contraction or relaxation, might not be adequate with the new settings of the following phase. Therefore, the mA decreases to the safe level and the user should then adjust the new phase to a new comfortable level for the new parameters.

Example:

Phase 1: Warm Up: 5 Hz 220 uS, continuous, you set it to 40mA which provides strong tingling sensation for worm up or vascularisation.

Phase 2: Work/Rest with contractions: 40 Hz 220 Us: if this treatment would start with the same level of intensity, this will be a high automatic increase of actual output. Therefeore we decrease it to the overall-safe level of 20% less.

How to match A B C D on the Electrodes Placement manaul with the channels of my unit

When you see A, B, C, D on the Electrode Placement manual, please don't try to find the link between these letters and letters on your unit, as the Electrode Placement manual is used for many units with different marks on the keypad. Treat A, B, C and D as the marks for channel 1,2,3 and 4. The manual shows how to place up to 4 channels regardless of the programme or unit being used. The Electrode Placement manual simply shows WHERE to place different channels to contract the selected muscle groups with up to 4 channels WHICH STIMULATES WITH THE SAME CURRENT. In this respect it does not matter if you connect channel A or B to the channel which is marked as A in the manual.

Your Sports XL unit, for example, will have channel 1 and 2 under the letter A and channels 2 and 4 under letter B.The channel 1 will work exactly the same way with the same electrical pulses as other channels (2,3,4).

Effectively when you try to match unit's channel with ABCD in the manual, please look on the top of the unit and imagine (A B C D) marks near each channel, A is the first on the left; D - the last on the right. Now you have the direct representation of your unit's ABCD with the manual ABCD.

I cannot reach maximum mA level, STIM intensity drops to zero

Our unit is designed to detect any poor or intermittent connection across the electrodes and to cut off the stimulation output (mA) when it does so. This is for your safety. It is designed to prevent the user from inadvertently turning up the output stimulation current in the presence of a poor or intermittent connection and then experiencing an unexpected powerful surge in the stimulation, if, or when the connection is re-established. REASONS FOR NO CONNECTION - IF YOU USE SKIN ELECTRODES: * Check if both electrodes are connected to the same dual conductor lead wire, one electrode to the black connector (-) and another to the red connector (+). * Check if both electrodes are making a sticky contact on your skin, electrode edges tend to lose their stickiness faster, but the electrode should be sticking with at least 80% of it's surface area. Your skin may become greasey after long term use, so try using to new electrodes. You may have dry gel on the electrodes, try dropping a small amount of water on the black (conductive) side of the electrode and leave for an hour for the gel to absorb the moisture. WARNING! Do not use wet electrodes! Try some fresh electrodes as electrodes lose conductivity proportionally to the use time; due to grease, and gel losing moisture. * Check if the dual conductor lead wire cable is not broken, as it might be bent or pulled out too much which results in no conductivity. To check if the cable is good, cross the red and black pin and increase mA, if the cable conducts the electricity, the mA will go above 10mA and you would feel the stimulation mildly tickling the fingers that hold the crossed pins.

Issues with MyoPlus

How to unlock my Myoplus unit

Any MyoPlus unit with any channels, comes with the Lock option. The lock button is a small hole inside the battery compartment, designed to be used by the treatment supervisor to press it with the pin of your leadwire and lock or unlock the programme for your patient. The treatment supervisor can check the statistics when unlocking the unit. If you are not the treatment supervisor, please don't use this button as any amendments you make are at your own risk and it is strongly not recommended!

The concealed Lock button works as follows:

Press Once to Lock the unit - the padlock symbol will be displayed. The programme is locked and pressing the MODE or PROG buttons will not change the programme or mode. Now your unit is gathering the statistics on daily basis, and for it's accuracy you should check if your calendar/timer is set properly - refer to the manual.

Press second time to Display the statistics. on old MyoPlus units the PC-CONNECT will be displayed and it tells you to download the statistics to the optional PC Software as old MyoPlus unit cannot display them on screen. The Newest MyoPlus PRO units shows the statistics on display as well as send them to the PC. Note: the unit and programme is still locked, this stage is just to see your gathered statistics. If you intend to Unlock, don't press any ESC buttons but go straight to point 3.

Press and hold for 3 sec to erase the statistics and Unlock the unit. The padlock will disappear. This will unlock the programme, erase the statistics and the unit is now ready for another patient. Note! if you press the concealed button for 3 sec and no results, please remember to press it short to get to the step 2 and only in step 2 - press for 3 seconds again.

Issues with EMG biofeedback

Simplex: LEDs are not shining

This is most probably because of the threshold level set too high.

Change the threshold values (+/-buttons) so that threshold would show 10uV. This will re-scale the bargraph to the typical average levels.

Please replace the batteries and check if it helps the LEDs to be brighter.

The reading is not stable

Our EMG devices are carefully checked during each phase of manufacturing, and you are always getting the unit carefully calibrated by the manufacturer. When using the EMG Biofeedback device: 1. Please always be sure to use the reference electrode otherwise the EMG signal will be incorrect. 2. To avoid the effects of electromagnetic interference, never use the Biofeedback device within 4 metres of a cellular telephone, or near any other powerful radio interference producing equipment that causes electrical sparks etc. The unit may be susceptible to strong interfering radio type emissions that may lead to temporary increased EMG microvolt readings. The reading will immediately return to the correct value when the interference ceases. (Remember that a relaxed muscle should read below 3.5 μVolts). 3. Do not use the device near a laptop or computer, failing that, make sure the power adaptor is switched off at the mains, as it produces a powerful interfering field which alters the reading on the Biofeedback device.

Using PC Software

The NeuroTrac Software is designed to be compatible with any EMG/ETS product supplied by Verity Medical Ltd. You can also benefit from regular free updates (quickest way from PC Software: About->Check for updates). To download the latest version and read the full troubleshooting section, please visit: http://neurotrac.emgsoft.info

How does the software licence work

Your licence for 5 activations is supplied with your Bluetooth-enabled device (Simplex and any MyoPlus). Using one installation, you can connect to one or many devices, your licence is not linked to any specific device and you are free to have one installation for all your NeuroTrac devices. Read more about the software licence on this page: http://neurotrac.emgsoft.info/en/5

Other Issues

Relaxation using EMG or STIM

How to use EMG (Simplex) or Stimulator (Continence, Pelvitone) for pelvic Floor Relaxation The Simplex is an EMG biofeedback device only (not stimulator) - it measures the muscle contraction in microvolts, and displays this on screen. A typical relaxation protocol with Simplex: the user observes how quick and how deep the relaxation is. The PelviTone/Continence devices are stimulators ONLY and do not have EMG biofeedback function (cannot measure the muscle, only stimulate it). However there are some stimulation routines which provoke the pelvic floor relaxation, for example Pelvitone P12 (2Hz, 220uS, Work 6sec / Rest 10 sec). You can set up the similar programme in Neurotrac continence in custom programme. As a conclusion from above: pure EMG devices (Simplex) and pure Stimulators (Pelvitone, continence) have 100% different approach for relaxation. NeuroTrac MyoPlus (1 or 2 channels) combines both EMG biofeedback and Stimulation approach to relaxation.

Accessories and Cleaning

Decontamination and reprocessing of units and accessories

All Neurotrac products has very similar accessories, below is the common approach for cleaning after single use.

Main Unit (the electical device)

Suitable for multiple users. Should be cleaned thoroughly when passed to another person. Advised to be wiped after each use.

Cleaning Warnings: Do not use cleaning sprays or alcohol based cleaning solutions. Do not use UV or steam – based sterilising equipment!
Alcohol-based solutions should not cause any functional damage to the unit, if applied gently and not over exposed. There is a high possibility of label and surface deterioration of the unit if alcohol-based solutions are used. Never immerse the unit in any fluid! Use wipes only. If you cannot avoid alcohol-based solutions, never spill alcohol-based solution over the unit areas, the alcohol wipes should never contain more than 70% of spirit, wipe off quickly, and do not over expose.

Lead wires (dual or single conductor)

For single patient use only! Advised to be cleaned thoroughly after each use.

Cleaning Warnings: Do not use cleaning sprays or alcohol based cleaning solutions. Do not use UV or steam – based sterilising equipment!
Alcohol-based solutions should not cause any functional damage to the wire, if applied gently and not over exposed. Never immerse the wire in any fluid! Use wipes only. The alcohol wipes should never contain more than 70% of spirit, wipe off quickly, and do not over expose.

Probes (vaginal or rectal)

For single patient use only! Should be cleaned thoroughly after each use.

Cleaning Instructions: Clean all probes before the first use and clean all probes before and after use. Wash the probe gently in mild soapy water, rinse and make sure the probe is completely dry before returning to storage in the plastic bag. For the detailed instructions, follow the instructions for use supplied with the probe.

Skin electrode pads

For single patient use only! Should be cleaned thoroughly after each use.

Cleaning Instructions: don't clean, avoid contamination. Do not use alcohol wipes, gels or other liquids to clean any side of the electrodes. 2) Do not apply to broken skin. 3) Stop using if irritation occurs!

Extending the life of skin electrode pads

Moisture management

For electrodes please remember, pads like to be sealed as they can dry off in 2 weeks time of careless storage. If too dry and come off the skin - drop a bit of water on the jelly surface and allow the gel to absorb it. The gel used to dry off and become less sticky. On the other hand, after sweat absorption gel becomes bulky and falls out from skin. The sensible moisture management can considerably increase the life of your typical hydro-gel pads for TENS/NMS/EMG.

Avoid fat surfaces

Try to avoid grease on skin: any fat residue such as creams, oily skin should be cleaned with alcohol-based wipes or baby wipes. Remember that fat residue permanently decreases the skin pads adhesion to skin.